What a horrible outcome, condolences to friends and families of the deceased. With all the snow around Vancouver this year, I've read reports of some large cornice failures with massive avalanches throughout the area.

Hiker Alastair Ferries was on the trail Saturday when he passed a man in his 40s near the summit who had trailed behind the group.

But when Ferries reached the summit a few minutes later, the only thing he saw were the group's tracks leading over the edge of the mountain's sheer cliff.

"They were kind of going parallel to the ridge," he said. "They were back but I could see where their tracks were where the snow had caved away."

"[I] noticed that they'd gone out on a cornice right close to the edge and the cornice had collapsed."